Tougher voter ID laws fuel debate

WASHINGTON -- Choosing a 2008 presidential candidate might be confusing enough, but some voters will face an additional challenge next year — remembering to bring the right identification to the polls.

In some states, voters will have to show a current, government-issued photo ID. Other states want to impose the same requirement but are waiting on a Supreme Court ruling before moving ahead.

The court is expected to rule next year on the constitutionality of an Indiana law requiring voters to show a photo ID — like a driver's license — issued by a state or federal agency. If it lets the law stand, other states could adopt similar measures, election experts say.

"I don't think Indiana will be the last by any stretch," said Tim Vercellotti, an assistant professor at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.

Opponents of the laws, including Democrats and the AARP, say the measures would suppress voter turnout among the elderly, poor and minorities who are less likely to have government-issued photo IDs.

"It's another hurdle in the way of voters," said Neil Bradley of the Voting Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.

Supporters of the laws, including Republican lawmakers and administration officials, deny that requiring a government-issued photo ID has a discriminatory impact. They say the requirement is necessary to keep people from voting who shouldn't.

Any burden the new laws impose "is more than justified by the state's interest in combating in-person voter fraud," Justice Department officials wrote in a brief filed with the Supreme Court on Dec. 10.

Since 2003, at least eight states have adopted new voter ID requirements. Civil rights groups and election officials warn that voters' uncertainty about those requirements could cause major confusion at the polls next year, particularly in places like Georgia, where the new law will be in place for the first time for a presidential election.

"If they don't have the proper ID ... they may be disenfranchised," said Rosemary Rodriguez, vice chairwoman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.